Bagerhat
Bagerhat gang-rape: 35-yr-old history-sheeter held, second arrest in 2 days
A 35-year-old man has been apprehended in connection with the recent gang-rape of a housewife in Bagerhat, the second arrest in the case.
The arrestee has been identified as Enamul Hawladar, son of Mansur Ali, a resident of Morelganj upazila. A history-sheeter, Enamul was arrested on Friday, police said on Saturday.
"On Thursday, Rab-6 nabbed the prime accused in the case -- Riaz Shikdar, 38, son of Abdul Majid Shikdar -- from the Bagmara area of Kachua upazila," said Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Morelganj Police Station.
"Efforts are on to arrest the other accused in the case," he added.
READ: Gang rape of Thakurgaon school girl: 2 arrested
Al-Asad Md Mahfuzul Islam, company commander of Rab-6, said, "We started a shadow investigation after a rape case was filed at the Morrelganj police station on Wednesday against Riaz and 10 others."
Meanwhile, Bagerhat chief judicial magistrate recorded the statement of the woman in this case, said OC Iqbal Bahar.
READ: Cox’s Bazar gang rape: Prime accused Ashiq put on 3-day remand
In late hours of Tuesday, the 10 accused -- all burglars -- broke into the family's house and raped the woman before decamping with cash and gold jewellery.
Fire guts six shops at Bagerhat market
Six shops were gutted in a fire that broke out at a market in the Dariala Bazar area of Bagerhat's Mollahat upazila in the early hours of Thursday.
The fire broke out at a shop in Nasir Super Market around 2am and soon engulfed five adjacent shops, said Golam Sarwar, deputy assistant director of Bagerhat Fire Service and Civil Defense.
On information, some fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it took them nearly an hour to bring the blaze under control.
Read: 3 die, 40 injured in Ashulia footwear factory fire
Fortunately, no casualties have been reported.
Fire service sources suspect that a leakage of gas from an oven or a cylinder triggered the blaze.
The affected shop owners claim that the extent of the loss caused by the fire is around Tk 30 lakh.
2 killed in Bagerhat road crash
Two people were killed and three others injured when a truck hit a rickshaw on Bagerhat-Pirojpur highway at Boitpur in Sadar upazila of Bagerhat district on Monday.
The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.
The accident occurred around 11:30 am when the Pirojpur-bound truck hit the rickshaw, killing one person on the spot, said KM Azizul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station.
Besides, three people were injured when an ambulance plunged into a road side ditch after being hit by the truck at the same time.
READ: 35-yr-old found dead in Bagerhat
The injured were taken to the local hospital but another victim died on the way to hospital.
Police seized the truck but could not arrest its driver.
READ: 3 injured in oxygen cylinder explosion in Bagerhat
Relics from Khanjahan's homestead on display in Bagerhat
A five-day exhibition of artifacts found on the archeological excavation of the homestead of Khanjahan has begun in Bagerhat.
Khanjahan was the founder of the medieval city of Khalifatabad, now Bagerhat, which arose from the Sundarbans edge.
Deputy commissioner Md Azizur Rahman inaugurated the exhibition in Khanjahan's homestead area in Sundarghona of Bagerhat Sadar upazila on Friday.
The exhibition has been organised by the Khulna and Barisal regional offices of the department of archeology and will remain open from morning to afternoon for visitors.
After excavating for about two months, the archaeological department found the antiquities and artifacts of various architectural structures and utensils used 600 years ago.
Read:Covid fear deprives Bagerhat of its legendary Shikdar Bari’s Puja
These artifacts include decorative bricks, walls of different periods, lime-made floors, roads, drainage, brick soling and pathways. Other items include terracotta pots, plates, bowls, saucers, and fragments of earthenware pitcher, oil lamps, engraved bricks, tiles and terracotta bowls.
Afroza Khan Mita, regional director of Khulna and Barisal division of the archeology department, said they have three visions through excavation -- to know the nature of the excavated artifacts by researching, to determine the approximate age of the archeological finds and to publish a complete report through research.
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35-yr-old found dead in Bagerhat
A 35-year-old man was found dead at a banana farm in Ranjitpur village of Bagerhat's Sadar upazila on Friday night.
The deceased was identified as Delwar Hossain, son of Ilal Nikari of Bhotte-Kanakpur village in the upazila. He was a cycle van driver.
Local people spotted the body of Delwar in the area on Friday night and informed the cops, said KM Azizul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bagerhat Model Police Station.
Police suspect miscreants killed Delwar and dumped the body in the farm.
READ: Bagerhat road crash leaves 4 dead
“Efforts are on to identify the perpetrators of the crime and unearth the reason behind the killing,” said the OC.
READ: Shopkeeper killed in Bagerhat
"The body was sent to the local hospital morgue for an autopsy," he added.
Sundarbans Day: Biodiversity under threat as salinity increases
'Sundarbans Day' will be observed on Monday as every year since 2002 with an appeal to save the largest mangrove forest in the world.
Virtual discussions have been organized in Bagerhat, Khulna, Pirojpur, Satkhira and Barguna due to covid situations like last year.
Rafiqul Islam Khokon, executive director of a private development agency 'Rupantor', said the day will be observed with the slogan 'Love the Sundarbans on the World Valentine's Day'.
This time alternative employment for the people dependent on the Sundarbans will be focused on in this event. There is human pressure on forests for livelihood. Local people adjacent to the forest should be involved in different activities to protect the forest, said Chief Forest Conservator Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury.
Also read: Tiger recovered from Sundarbans canal most likely died of natural causes
Sundarbans, a World Heritage site, hosts a complex network of tidal waterways. The forest presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes and many of its flora and fauna are unique to this region.
However, salinity in the Sundarbans is increasing due to climate change. Besides, the flow of water in the rivers and canals of the forest is decreasing gradually and several canals of the forest have been filled with silt.
Sundari trees are dying due to excessive salinity. Wildlife is also being affected by various diseases by consuming salt water. In the Sundarbans, wild animals are being hunted and people do fishing by spraying pesticides in rivers and canals which threaten the biodiversity of the Sundarbans.
According to various sources, there are 450 small and big rivers-canals in the Sundarbans. Due to lack of water flow, several small and big canal beds in the Sundarbans have been filled with silt. A variety of wild animals, including tigers and deer, leave the Sundarbans, cross canals, and enter the locality very often and lose their lives.
Muhammad Belayet Hossain, divisional forest officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans East Division, said over 20 canals in the area under the Sundarbans East Division have been filled with silt. Besides, a 30 km area of Bhola river from Jaymoni to Das Bharani, Kharma canal and Aruarber canal has been filled.
In this situation, various demands have been raised at different times to protect the Sundarbans, including celebrating 'Sundarbans Day' nationally. There is also a demand for the formation of a separate ministry for the Sundarbans.
Also read: Govt withdraws ban on tourist launch movement in Sundarbans
Executive Director of Sundarbans Academy Anwarul Qadir said that they have been demanding the formation of a separate ministry for the management of the Sundarbans to conserve the Sundarbans and improve the living standards of the people living near the forest. He is hopeful that if their demands are met, the fortunes of the forest and its people will improve.
Rafiqul Islam Khokon, executive director of 'Rupantor', said the first National Sundarbans Conference in Khulna ended on 14 February 2001 with the 'Sundarbans Declaration'.
Some 80 organizations including Rupantar, Khulna University, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) jointly organized that conference.
At the conference, it was decided to observe 'Sundarbans Day' on February 14, and asked the government to observe 'Sundarbans Day' nationally.
Since 2002, Sundarbans Academy, Sundarbans Division, various press clubs and various organizations have been observing 'Sundarbans Day' on 14th February in the districts adjoining the Sundarbans.
In the eighteenth century, the area of the Sundarbans was almost double that of today. In 1878, the Sundarbans was declared a protected forest. The Unesco Commission of the United Nations declared three Sundarbans sanctuaries as World Heritage Sites in 1997.
In 2017, the government expanded the sanctuary area in the Sundarbans. Out of the total forest area of 6,01,700 hectares, now the sanctuary area is 3,17,900 hectares. Earlier it was only 1,39,700 hectares.
It has 375 species of wild animals, the Royal Bengal Tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile, the Indian python, and the gangetic dolphins.
Bagerhat multiple trawler tragedy: Death toll rises to 6
The death toll from the multiple trawler tragedy in Bagerhat reached six on Tuesday, with the recovery of two more bodies from the Bay of Bengal.
However, the identities of the deceased fishermen could not be known yet.
Members of the Coast Guard, forest department officials and local fishermen fished out the two bodies during their search and rescue operations in Dublar Char and Bay areas, said Pralad Chandra Roy, in-charge of the Dublarchar Forest Camp in the Sundarbans.
Read: Bodies of 2 fishermen recovered from Bay; 12 still missing
"Eight other fishermen still remain missing. The search operation has been going on for the last four days," he added.
Earlier, on Monday, the Coast Guard recovered the bodies of Yakub Ali Bawali, son of Sonam Uddin of Boga village in Kachua upazila of Bagerhat district, and Anwar Hossain Badal, 50, son of Syed Ali Hawladar of Andarmanik village in the same upazila.
The Coast Guard rescued three fishermen hours after several trawlers sank during a sudden storm in the Bay of Bengal.
Ten trawlers sank within an 8km radius of Dublar Char and eight capsized in different areas of the Bay of Bengal, 45km off Dublar Char during a sudden storm around 10 pm on Friday.
Over 150 fishermen were rescued while 14 others went missing.
Tomato cultivation transforms lives of Bagerhat farmers
Tomato cultivation has changed the fate of many farmers in Bagerhat.
Biswajit Baral, a farmer of Ashok Nagar village of Chitalmari upazila set an example in this area by cultivating tomatoes. He cultivated early varieties of the winter tomatoes and now he earns a lot from it.
Seeing his success, many of the villagers started cultivating the vegetable.
The tomatoes grown here go to different parts of the country including Dhaka, Chattogram, Chapainawabganj, Noakhali, Hatia and Barisal, reports our local correspondent.
Visiting the field of Ashok Nagar village, it was seen that thousands of tomato plants were lined up on both sides of the fields. The plants are full of small to large green and red tomatoes.
Men and women of different ages are picking tomatoes from the plants. This is the same scenario as far as the eye can see in the field.
Besides, tomato cultivation has been seen in different villages of Chitalmari including Santoshpur, Umajuri, Charbaniari, Paschimpara, Garibpur, Kharamkhali.
Different varieties of tomatoes named Haitom, Chakra, Major, Beautiful and Beautiful-2 are being cultivated in this area.
READ: Tomato cultivation: Bumper harvest and good price bring joy to farmers in Rajshahi
According to the Department of Agriculture, the seeds of these high yielding hybrids are from India, China and Thailand.
Biswajit Baral, a 38-year-old millionaire who cultivates tomatoes, turned to agriculture after passing HSC from Vocational. He has revolutionized tomato cultivation.
Besides, he is involved in growing seasonal agricultural products and pisciculture
HC orders Bagerhat municipal mayor to surrender
The High Court has ordered Bagerhat municipality mayor Khan Habibur Rahman to surrender within three weeks in a corruption case.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukdar and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman rejected his anticipatory bail and passed the order on Monday.
Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik said the High Court didn’t grant him anticipatory bail rather asked to surrender within three weeks.
READ: Pori Moni appeals to HC for quashing charges under narcotic case
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on November 25 last year filed two separate cases against Bagerhat municipality mayor Khan Habibur Rahman for embezzling government money for project and illegally appointing employees.
According to the sources, a case was filed accusing 18 people of Bagerhat municipality including the mayor, for illegally appointing 17 people and embezzling Tk 1.26 crore from the government treasury.
READ: Abrar murder case: HC accepts 17death-row convicts' appeals for hearing
Another case was filed against the mayor Khan Habibur Rahman and former secretary of Bagerhat municipality Mohammad Rezaul Karim for embezzling Tk 1 crore instead of constructing a complex building of Abahani Club and a Diabetic Hospital complex building in Bagerhat.
Covid-19 infections rise to 50 % in Bagerhat
The Covid-19 infection rate in this south-western coastal district jumped to 50 per cent as per samples tested in the past 24 hours till Sunday, officials said.
Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr. Mohammad Habibur Rahman, said that 20 people tested positive for the virus from samples taken from 40 people during this period.
With this some 7,125 people have tested positive for Covid-19 while 144 people died of Covid till Sunday in the district. A total of 6,935 people recovered from the virus, he said.
Also read: Bangladesh reports 17 more deaths as Covid getting deadlier
He said 63.19% people of the district have received the first dose of the Covid jabs, while 41.88% got second dose and 1.18% received booster or the third dose.
Besides, one lakh 53 thousand 361 students aged between 12 and 17 have been given the first shot and 46 thousand 437 the second shot, according to health officials.
Despite a surge in the virus people seemed indifferent to maintaining Covid safety masures like wearing masks in public places.
Also read: Covid in Bangladesh: 11,434 more cases, 12 deaths and positivity rate rises to 28.49%
In the city’s crowded areas of Sadhonar intersection, Main Road, Kitchen Market, fish market and other important places, people were seen moving without wearing masks.